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Life Is Long, Still

Has this band come a long way. Not that their debut, Inertia, wasn't tasty, but, in terms of progress, this is the difference between a college senior and a high school one. This Boston-area trio still betrays a menu of early '80s Brit classics; many of t

Genre: Rock: Adult Alternative Pop/Rock

Release Date: 1996

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ABOUT THIS ALBUM

Album Notes

Has this band come a long way! Not that their debut, Inertia, wasn't tasty, but, in terms of progress, this is the difference between a college senior and a high school one. This Boston-area trio still betrays a menu of early '80s Brit classics; many of the slow, slower, and slowest tracks are an accomplished update of Siouxsie & the Banshees and their aural niece and nephews the Cocteau Twins, covering Faith and Pornography era Cure, only with more of the House of Love's scary, frozen guitar sweep. But most of the textures are their own -- and the snatch of "Magnet's Coil" from Sebadoh's Bakesale at the end of "Apnea" is a hint of more rounded influences -- and, moreover, the harder, louder, bigger songs (be)dazzle the ear. The standout jumps off three-quarters through, when "Stealing Shakespeare" arrives with a glorious rumble. Guitarist/singer Roger Lavallee twists an uneasy, restless knife into the pre-shoegaze precedent, with a might and a newfound, forceful sonic overdrive. His vocals (and especially the much deeper, powerful production) are the biggest change; whereas before he cooed plaintively, as if forced into the job, Life Is Long finds him flowered into a singer, making the more ambitious tracks batter more than tease. Kudos on that spindly-guitar driven opener, "Mouthwithout," the tremolo-infiltrated "Je Regrette Rien," and the psychedelic churner "Chevelle." If, on future efforts, they stick more to the hard stuff, the double-scotch instead of the red wine, Curtain Society will prove to doubters that post-MBV, post-goth, post-dream pop rock can be mean, powerful, and breathtaking, some of the best American music, instead of wan, fey, and ridiculous. With half the tracks here, they already do, and, overall, this is excellent.

I recall buying this album on CD when Bedazzled Records (the label that originally released it) was still in business--I had enjoyed The Curtain Society's 'Inertia' so much (I'll say mare about that particular album in my review of it), I was eager to hear what this album sounded like.

Unfortunately, the first time I haeard this album, I was disappointed, because (to me--I was vey young and very stupid at the time) the album didn't strike me as being very good--I recall being particularly annoyed by the song "Stealing Shakespeare", which i didn't (and still don't) "get", which led to my selling my CD copy of this album (an action I've come to regret), I hated that song so much...

I was inspired to give this album another try when I heard Danella Hocevar (formerly of An April March) covering the title song ("Life Is Long, Still") on An April March's "...something once true, is always true..." CD-single (TCS' Roger Lavallee played guitar on her version, by the way), but by then the album was out of print and impossible to find, until it (and 'Inertia') recently became available as digital downloads--I chose to download it from CD Baby because while iTunes and Amazon.com might have it for less, jou just get the songs, and not a .jpeg file of the cover art (in case you want to print a cover for the album once you burn it to CD), and you also don't get a file with notes on the album. (Plus, as someone at CD Baby pointed out, the artists get a higher share of the money when you download their music from CD Baby...)

So, how do I like this album now that I've had the chance to give it another chance? Well, I like it--I like it a LOT, even though, as I Said, it's not 'Inertia' (but then it's not supposed to be--if TCS kept 'making the same album over and over' [as someone once said of Dirty Three], they'd be simply BORING!).

I like just about the whole album (with the exception of the afore-mentioned "Stealing Shakespeare", plus I think the version of "Mouthwithout" that TCS had on their website [which they titled simply "Mouthwithout Version Two"] was better than the one on 'Life Is Long, Still'), but all in all, I like this album very much, thank you! (But it's too hard for me to pick a favorite track, so I just leave it at that...)